Real Time Genomics, Inc., a leading developer of bioinformatics tools and applications, today announced the appointment of genomics industry veteran Francisco M. De La Vega as the company’s Vice President of Genome Science. Dr. De La Vega will lead the company scientific efforts as it expands its commercial operations.

“To have Francisco join the company at this time in its evolution is very important,” said Steve Lombardi, CEO of Real Time Genomics. “He is a proven leader in the genomics and next-gen sequencing community, and he brings a wealth of talent and credibility to RTG as it forms collaborations with key opinion leaders in genomics.”

“His knowledge of both the science and technology, combined with his contacts in the scientific community, is the perfect complement to the computer science team already on board at RTG. Francisco will pay immediate dividends for us in providing a unique view of the customer perspective as we make important decisions in product development.”

Francisco has been Visiting Professor at the Department of Genetics of the Stanford School of Medicine where he performed research in population and clinical genomics. Previously, he spent 13 years at Applied Biosystems (currently Life Technologies), where he was most recently the Distinguished Scientific Fellow and Vice President of Next-Generation Sequencing Applications. During his tenure at AB, he oversaw the research, development, and validation of numerous innovative genetic analysis technologies and bioinformatics tools enabling high-throughput biology. He was a member of the steering committee of the 1000 Genomes Project Consortium and received the Bio-IT World Best Practices Award in Basic Research in 2008 for a collaborative project with the Christian Albrechts University of Kiel leading to the identification of a novel Crohn’s disease gene. Francisco earned his Doctor of Science degree in Genetics and Molecular Biology at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico.

“We are reaching a turning point in genomics where high-throughout sequencing is being applied to a diverse set of applications, from research to the clinic to the applied markets” said Francisco De La Vega. “ For these applications to mature and deliver value, a robust, accurate, and fast software solution is urgently needed to avoid analysis bottlenecks. RTG has an amazing set of technologies that fits that bill with significant headroom for improvement. I am therefore excited to join such an innovative and capable team committed to this genomics transformation.”

Real Time Genomics (http://www.realtimegenomics.com) has a passion for genomics. The company offers software tools and applications for the extraction of unique value from genomes. Its competency lies in applying the combination of its patented core technology and deep computational expertise in algorithms to solve problems in next generation genomic analysis. Real Time Genomics is a private San Francisco based company backed by investment from Catamount Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and GeneValue Ltd.